Starcatcher
by Superbun
Summary: "There is a story, old as time, of he who could catch the stars. Unnamed and eternal, the star-catcher would lead the Fallen, rising from the lowest station to the highest exalted peaks." - The Eliksni, known to Humanity as the Fallen, were once a proud race who revered the Traveller. Those few who remember the old ways say the Old Machine remembers their sacrifice too.


**Starcatcher**

" _There is a story, old as time, of he who could catch the stars. Unnamed and eternal, the star-catcher would lead the Fallen, rising from the lowest station to the highest exalted peaks."_ _ **-Dreg's Promise**_

Elkis fled for her life over the lunar regolith, the ravenous hordes of the Darkness snapping at her heels. Despite the lack of atmosphere, the banners marking her a Baron of the house of Exile streamed out behind her, as if she ran into a headwind.

In spite of the situation, Elkis allowed herself a derisive snort; _House of Exile,_ it was an insult to her people's history _._ Without the false pretence of nobility that the others clung to, her 'house' was the true face of the Eliksni; cruel and remorseless scavengers.

A ball of raging green fire arced over Elkis' shoulders. She dove to the side as the projectile struck a rise in the ground and detonated. Elkis felt the flash of heat through her armour an instant before the blast sent her tumbling over the dusty grey surface. She rolled with the impact, coming up in a low crouch, her left hands dug into the loose soil to arrest her motion.

Elkis surged upwards. Before she'd even reached her full height something yanked her back down. She spun, coming face-to-face with the monsters that had destroyed her civilisation. The emaciated, eyeless face of a Hive Thrall glared back at her, it's claws embedded in the edge of her cloak. The creature's mouth opened in a soundless roar.

Elkis screamed back - a sound of mixed fear and fury, yanking two pistols from her bandolier and emptying both magazines into the Thrall's torso. Hive ash splattered her, mixing with the dust staining her heraldry. She drew another pair of guns with her upper arms, spraying shock bolts in a semicircle in front of her.

A dozen Thrall went down beneath her barrage. Two dozen more replaced them. Behind the Thrall, like islands in a maelstrom of gnashing teeth and claws, stood the Knights. One raised its weapon. Green flames licked along the barrel.

Elkis fled, leaping over a shallow crater as the shot detonated behind her.

 _Why do you run?_ A voice within her whispered, as she bounded over the grey soil. Her Ether supplies had gone down with her Skiff; if she survived, her only reward would be a slow, agonising death.

The spires of an ancient sensor array rose from the peak of a ridge just off her path. At the slope's base a ship of human make was embedded in the dirt, one wing jutting up into the black sky.

Elkis' eyes traced along the leading edge of the wing, up to the shimmering blue orb that hung just above its peak. She imagined she could see it; an impossibly small white speck hovering over the surface of that distant world; The Old Machine - known to the people of this system as The Traveller.

 _It's as good a place as any,_ she thought with grim resolve. If she was to die, it would not be in a ditch, like the Dregs and Wretches her people had become; she would go out like the proud Eliksni of old - weapon in hand, defiant to her last breath.

Elkis forced her tired muscles to drive harder, extending each bound, earning her precious seconds ahead of the horde. At the same time, she holstered two of her pistols, and used her freed arms to reload the guns she still held.

Then, the ship was upon her. She vaulted over the nose of the craft, and pressed her back to the hull. There was a breath's pause, then she popped out of her cover, unleashing a flurry of shock bolts towards the onrushing Thrall.

A heartbeat later, her guns were empty. She ducked back behind the ship, holstering one pair of pistols while her lower arms drew the next. She took another breath, then stood and fired again.

She was on her third set of pistols when the first Knight crested the rapidly growing mound of ash. The monster's pace was almost leisurely; unconcerned with how many of its lesser brethren she slaughtered. Three glowing green eyes locked with hers. Elkis froze.

The Knight's head vanished in a burst of ash and green fire.

Freed from her paralysis, Elkis' gaze snapped to the side. A bipedal figure stood a few paces away, bracing a long rifle against the hull of the ship. The glowing mechanical eyes of an Exo shone from beneath the hooded cloak of one of the Old Machine's chosen.

Before she could react to the new threat, a Thrall leapt over the wreck, claws grasping for her. Pure instinct saved her. She sprung backwards, throwing up a cloud of lunar dust as she rolled. She came to her feet, guns levelled at the Hive creature. She pulled the triggers.

Nothing happened. Lights on her pistols flashed indigo. Warning beeps sounded in her helmet.

Elkis cursed. The Thrall pounced. She rose to meet it.

The monster's muscles jerked - its claws skittering over her armour - as her blades punctured its torso. With a feral snarl Elkis pressed the activation studs on the hilts. The shock cores embedded in her weapons ignited. The Thrall screamed silently as lightning crackled over its skin, reducing it to ash.

Elkis didn't savour her victory. She rushed forwards, slamming against the crashed ship. She sheathed her swords and drew her final pair of loaded pistols. She took a breath, then stood. Hive disintegrated beneath her fusillade. The Hunter's rifle spoke, decapitating a second Knight.

Then, her guns were empty. She dropped back into cover, reaching for replacement magazines with her lower arms. She took a breath.

 _Stand. Fire. Duck. Reload. Breathe._

Another wave of Thrall and Acolytes fell to her guns. The Exo's rifle flashed, signaling the end of another Knight.

 _Stand. Fire. Duck. Reload._

The waves were coming quicker now. She barely had the magazine in place before the Thrall were on top of her. Behind them came a company of seven Knights, their feet sinking ankle-deep into the ash.

Golden light flared to her left. Elkis couldn't help but stare. The Hunter stood tall, cloak billowing behind him. His rifle was gone. In his right hand he held a magnificent revolver. The weapon's barrel was wreathed in golden flames, and the metal glowed as if fresh from the forge. Slowly, the Exo lowered the radiant weapon to the horizontal and brought his left hand to the rear of the gun.

He fired.

A spear of brilliant light struck the first Knight dead-center. In the blink of an eye, the Hunter fanned the hammer five more times.

Light flashed brighter than the sun. Elkis shielded her eyes as the ground beneath her shook with a series of explosions. When the glare cleared, she saw the last Knight stagger to its feet, armour scorched black. It raised its weapon.

Elkis reacted with a burst of pistol fire. She was too slow. The Boomer fired, it's shot arcing over their cover. She dove for safety, puffs of dust erupting around her as she rolled.

She came to her feet - shots streaking past on either side - and glanced back. The Hunter was scrambling up the slope towards the sensor array on the ridgeline. Elkis followed, holstering her pistols and half-climbing, half-leaping up the hill.

She crested the ridge only a pace or two behind the Hunter. The array was set on a square of ancient, cracked concrete. In front of them lay a squat service building, and above it loomed a latticework tower supporting the sensor apparatus itself.

Elkis bounded forwards, vaulting through a window shattered long ago and hunkered down behind an ancient control panel. Instinctively, part of her began to break down the equipment around her.

 _Primitive semiconductor computers; not worth salvaging._

She glanced through the broken airlock towards the sensor tower.

 _Raw materials are still useful. Start by stripping the wiring from those antennas._

The Hunter leapt through the window next to hers. His glowing handgun had vanished as suddenly as it appeared, and he held his rifle again.

Elkis snapped back to the present, hurriedly reloading her guns. As the last of her spare magazines clicked into place, the first Hive crested the ridge, and the rhythm started again.

 _Stand. Fire. Duck. Reload. Breathe._

Elkis drew her next pair of guns, and stood. Before she could get off a single shot, a barrage of energy blasts sent her diving back into cover as pieces of thousand-year-old concrete rained down on her. Gasping for breath, Elkis peeked over the edge of the console.

Serpentine shadows danced above the legion of Thrall. The tattered robes of Hive Wizards trailed behind the forms, tracing sinuous shapes through the vacuum. As she watched, one of the shadows raised her talons and unleashed another volley of magic.

Elkis ducked as the walls shook around her. The building wouldn't take much more of this. She had only four loaded pistols left - barely enough to down a single Wizard. She tensed, preparing to leap over the wall; she would take as many Hive with her as she could. A final glance to the side.

The Hunter was gone.

Elkis looked behind her. The Exo had his rifle slung over his shoulder, and was running for the sensor tower. As she watched, he leapt, then grabbed hold of the latticework and hauled himself upwards.

Her gaze snapped back to the front as she stood. A Thrall leapt towards her. With a growl, she slammed one of her pistols into it's gaping mouth and pulled the trigger. Ash blinded her, but she kept firing.

When the warnings sounded in her ears, Elkis made a split-second decision. Old Eliksni wisdom held that a rival's blade pointed at the foe was as as good as an ally's shield at your back. Throwing her useless pistols at the feet of the onrushing horde, she turned and fled towards the tower.

The Hunter clung to the metalwork at the array's peak, sighting down his rifle. Elkis put her back to the tower, crouching behind the decayed hulk of a supply container. As the Hive washed over the service bunker, she drew her final pair of pistols. She would buy the Hunter as long as she could.

She took a breath, then stood, guns blazing with defiant fury.

Ash swirled in the void, slowly drifting to the ground in the low lunar gravity. A lone figure remained, stood in the airlock of the bunker. Three green lights shone from the darkness. Elkis stepped into the open, holstering her guns with her upper arms and drawing her blades with her lower.

The fire in the Knight's eyes seemed to glow even brighter. It stepped forward, its maw twisted into an almost anticipatory grin as it raised its own sword.

The weapon was a battle-scarred monstrosity of bone and metal; its blade nearly as wide as Elkis' torso, even on the Moon, it should have been so massive as to be completely unwieldy, but the Knight swung it one-handed as if it weighed nothing.

With a cry Elkis activated her shock blades and leapt towards the Knight. The Hive Cleaver sliced towards her faster than she thought possible. She twisted as she flew, narrowly avoiding the blade as it sliced off one of her banners. She hit the ground and lashed out with her swords.

The hilts jerked in her grip, and she cried out, nearly dropping the blades as they glanced off the Knight's chitin. Her foe whirled, bringing its sword down in an overhead blow. Elkis switched her blades to her upper arms and scrambled away on four limbs. The ground shuddered, ancient concrete fracturing beneath the Cleaver's impact.

The force of the hit didn't stagger the Knight. It recovered in the blink of an eye, swinging its sword towards her in a sweeping arc. Elkis couldn't move away in time. Gritting her teeth, she raised her blades.

Lightning flashed as sword met sword.

The force of the blow lifted Elkis off her feet. She flew for a moment, then hit the concrete, rolling over and over, coming to rest against the wall of a shipping container.

Elkis lay there, stunned, as the world spun around her. Through swirling vision she made out a blinking light at the top of the sensor array. She narrowed her eyes, willing her sight to clear. Slowly, the quadruple images converged into one. The light she saw was the Hunter; his rifle flashing again and again as he sank round after round into the advancing Hive.

Elkis' gaze slid down to the ground. The Knight looked at her for a moment, then turned, taking a step towards the tower.

"No!" Elkis growled. She stabbed one of her blades - somehow, she had kept hold of them in her fall - into a crack in the concrete and forced herself up. The Knight took another step forward. She dragged herself into its path, raising her swords with shaking arms.

"We're not done."

The Knight opened it's maw in a silent below and charged.

Elkis held her ground. The people of this system knew her kind as "Fallen". It was an apt moniker. But for this one moment, she would be worthy of the name Eliksni.

The Knight gained speed, chips of stone flew from the floor with every footfall.

Elkis remained unmoved. She would stand like Chelchis, Kell of Stone; undaunted before the Whirlwind's maw.

The Knight didn't even use its sword. It rammed its armoured shoulder into Elkis' chest. Her weight barely slowed its charge. A heartbeat later her back struck the sensor tower.

Something broke within her with a sickening crunch. Elkis screamed.

The Knight staggered back. Elkis slumped against the tower, leaving behind a glowing silhouette as she fell. Distantly, she realised it was her Ether, leaking from cracks in her armour.

She focused on the Knight. The Cleaver fell from its grip. It looked down at its chest, almost in disbelief, seeing the handles of her blades jutting from its cracked breastplate. It crumbled to ash.

The lights in Elkis' helmet flickered, for a moment she thought she heard an alien cheer coming from her comms system; she couldn't be sure, her vision was already fading...

Time passed. She drifted in and out of consciousness as Ether flowed from her broken body.

The next thing she knew, the Hunter stood over her. The Exo stared down at her, the hard metallic planes of his face inscrutable.

Elkis felt herself slipping away.

 _Not like this..._

Clenching her mandibles, she raised a leaden arm and drew her last pistol. The weapon skittered over the concrete, coming to rest between her and the Hunter.

"End it," she groaned. "Haven't I done enough to earn a quick death... Guardian?"

The Exo looked between her and the pistol several times. He probably hadn't heard her last words, and even if he did, he wouldn't have understood. Not taking his eyes off her, the Hunter crouched to pick up the gun.

Fear that he would leave her there to die suddenly overwhelmed her. With a final burst of energy, she pushed away from the tower. She lurched towards the hunter, yanking her knife from its sheath.

Her attack was sloppy; even the most Ether-starved Dreg could've managed better form.

Elkis barely felt the pain as the Hunter broke her arm, her knife slipping from unresponsive fingers.

The last thing she saw before the Hunter opened her throat was a brilliant blue sphere, glistening beneath the Old Machine's protection.

* * *

Persephone floated over her seventy-six thousand, two hundred and seventieth lunar scan-grid. The Ghost bobbed slightly as she moved from grid-point to grid-point, humming to herself on microwave frequencies.

In the distance, a sickly green glow shone from a deep wound in the Moon's surface. Persephone shied away from the otherworldly light, shuffling the scan-grids in that direction further down her task list. She could accept a six-point-nine percent drop in routing efficiency, if she didn't have to go down there this cycle.

Crota's destruction had made the area around the Hellmouth safer, but so many of her kind had died in that place, that the thought of venturing into the twisting catacombs made Persephone feel cold beneath her shell.

Eager for a distraction, she turned to an anomaly in her latest scan. A body lay half-buried in the lunar dust, dessicated face staring out through its spacesuit's shattered visor. Persephone swept in closer for a detailed scan.

 **/Evaluating candidate 2,718,281...  
/Rejected: Neurological degradation too great for revival protocols**

It had been so long, Persephone didn't feel the pang of disappointment anymore. She paused for a moment, looking up at the twinkling blue orb of Earth. _One day,_ she told herself; one day she would return to the City, and reunite with those of her kind who had found their Guardians.

 _One day,_ she repeated, moving onto the next grid point. She _would_ find her Guardian. She wouldn't become one of those Ghosts that searched their whole lives in vain, eventually falling afoul of one of the many evils that stalked the Sol system.

A few grid points later, she came across a second figure lying in the dust.

 **/Evaluating candidate 2,718,282...  
/Rejected: Reconstructed psychological profile incompatible**

Persephone called up the detailed log and let out a low whistle. A small part of her was thankful that she hadn't found her charge immediately, as she'd had time to refine her evaluation parameters. She didn't want to be responsible for a return to the days of the Risen and the warlords they'd become.

Persephone continued on, humming to keep the deathly silence at bay.

Many scans later, she arrived at an abandoned interferometry station - the two bodies she'd scanned earlier had likely been the station's crew, brought down in a futile attempt to flee the Collapse.

A fine layer of grey-black particulate coated the base. In the visual spectrum, it was almost indistinguishable from moon dust, but the scattering pattern was inconsistent with dustfall from meteorite impacts. Spectrographic analysis proved it: this was Hive ash.

Persephone signaled curiosity and fear, though there were no Ghosts in range to receive.

A figure lay at the base of the array. That was odd; these stations usually had a crew of two. Perhaps someone had stumbled on the base after it had been abandoned, and tried to take shelter. She floated closer to investigate.

 **/Evaluating candidate 2,718,283...  
/Error: Biological profile not found in local cache**

Huh, hadn't had that one in a while. Perhaps if she...

 **/Accessing archives...  
/Match found!  
/Evaluating candidate 2,718,283...  
/Success: Suitable candidate detected!**

Persephone pulsed in shock. Could it be...?

 **/Initiating revival protocols...**

* * *

Air rushed into her lungs with a desperate gasp. The Eliksni's two pairs of eyes opened wide as she sat bolt upright. The sudden movement caused her head to spin, and she fell to one side, arms shooting out to steady her.

"Woah! Easy there Guardian!" A concerned female voice sounded in her ears. "Take it slow, okay? You've been dead a while." Blue light flashed before her in time with the words.

She forced herself to focus on the light, it came from the eye of a small floating machine, barely larger than her clenched fist. Her eyes narrowed, she recognised the machine; it was some kind of servant of the Old Machine, usually seen helping out its chosen, but, strangely, she couldn't recall _how_ she knew that.

Tearing her eyes away from the gently bobbing light, she took in her surroundings. She lay in the shadow of an ancient sensor array, the base around her showed signs of a long-lost battle, but nothing stirred the lunar dust.

 _So, where did you come from, little machine?_ She wondered.

Only then did she realise that it had spoken to her in perfect Eliksni.

Her eyes snapped back to the machine. "How...?"

It's light flashed and it rose sharply. "Oh! I'm sorry!" it said, abashedly. "My name's Persephone, I'm a Ghost - _your_ Ghost. I've been looking for you for a long time."

The Eliksnihauled herself to her feet. "It's an honour to meet you, Persephone, I'm..." she trailed off, suddenly realising _she didn't know who she was_.

She looked down at herself. Her armour was battered and cracked in several places, but it had clearly once been of high quality. As she turned to get a better look at herself, she noticed a green banner fluttering behind her. Catching the tattered cloth with a lower arm she dragged it into view.

"Baron Elkis, House Exile," she read aloud. She'd hoped the name would trigger a flash of recognition, but it dropped from her mandibles like a total stranger's.

Before the Ghost could respond, a high-pitched, monstrous shriek stabbed at Elkis' ears. She shuddered; surely nothing _alive_ could make that sound. "What was that?!"

"The Hive," Persephone replied, glancing away. In the distance, a green glow was visible against the black sky. "They haven't noticed us yet, but it's only a matter of time. I need to get you back to the City." She zipped away towards the engineering bunker.

Elkis hesitated. "Persephone, wait." The Ghost spun to face her. "I don't remember who I am, but I know I'm Eliksni. How many of the City's inhabitants have been killed by my people? Hundreds? Thousands?"

 _And how many of my kind have been dashed against its walls?_ She added silently.

"I don't know the exact figure-" Persephone's light blinked. "I see your point, but that was your old life, you're a Guardian now." The Ghost darted back towards her. " _My_ Guardian. I won't let them hurt you."

The scream rang in her ears again. Elkis winced. "How are we hearing that?"

"Whatever the Hive are up to, its broadcasting that ...sound on all frequencies."

Elkis eyed the glow on the horizon, thinking quickly. Unless she wanted to stay and find out what the Hive were doing, she didn't have a choice but to trust the Ghost. She looked back to Persephone.

"You have a plan to get us off this rock?"

The Ghost swiveled back towards the bunker, "Maybe. I think I can use this array to boost my signal strength and get a distress call to the Tower - they'll send a fireteam to pick us up..." she trailed off.

"But?"

"The Hive will notice the signal; we'll have to hope they get here in time."

The otherworldly scream sounded again.

"Do it."

Persephone floated towards the bunker, Elkis following after her.

The Ghost stopped just past the broken inner airlock door. Her light flared brighter, throwing a circle of illumination on a metal cabinet mounted to one of the walls. "I'm picking up an energy reading from that distributor box," Persephone said. "See if you can get the power back on."

The cover of the box resisted at first, but gripping it with all four hands, Elkis was able to jerk it free. Beneath the panel lay the reassuring red glow of a power indicator and a bank of switches. Elkis flipped the switches one-by-one. Lights flickered into life overhead, and behind her the consoles woke up.

Persephone darted around the small room, shafts of brilliant blue light shining from her eye as she interfaced with the reawakening computers. After a few moments she paused. "Here goes nothing,

"This is Persephone, calling Vanguard command, I have a Guardian in distress, requesting immediate support! I repeat-"

Hive screeching cut through the Ghost's signal. It was different this time; no longer a scream of agony, but a cry of indescribable, ravening fury. Elkis' eyes darted to the broken windows of the Bunker. The horizon seemed to waver, the ground shifting up and down. With a chill she realised what she was seeing; Hive thrall, _thousands_ of them.

She turned back to the Ghost. "Anything?"

Her silence was all the answer Elkis needed. "The Hive signal is too strong, I can't get through."

Elkis' eyes darted around the bunker, searching for something she could use as a weapon.

"I might have another way out though." Her gaze snapped back to the Ghost. "I got a ping from an inactive jumpship two-point-seven kilometers to the south."

Elkis eyed the oncoming horde. "We can't stay here."

She felt a momentary stab of alarm as Persephone vanished in a flash of light. "I'm still with you," the Ghost said in her ear. "Now: Run!"

Elkis didn't need to be told twice. She vaulted out one of the broken windows. As soon as her feet hit the dirt, she drove down with her legs, bounding over the grey dust. She pushed onwards, accelerating every time she touched the ground, until the regolith became a blur beneath her, and she fought to keep her balance with every landing. A single stumble would mean her death; but so would slowing down.

They nearly made it.

Elkis could see the ship ahead of her, landed on a patch of level ground at the bottom of a shallow crater. She didn't dare look back; she knew the Hive were right behind. Shredder fire streaked all around her, throwing up small clouds of dust as the shots struck the ground.

She dared to hope she would escape.

Her foot slipped in the loose dirt. She tumbled down the slope. In a desperate panic, Elkis dug her fingers into the dust, halting her fall. She hauled herself to her feet a moment too late. A weight struck her from behind. Claws skated across her armour.

The Hive were upon her.

Frantic, Elkis kicked out, sending the Thrall flying. She turned to flee, but more of its brethren were there, grabbing at her limbs, bearing her to the ground, clawing at her armour.

Razor-sharp teeth found the soft flesh of her throat.

* * *

Darkness.

Cold.

Warmth.

 _Light._

* * *

"...uardian? Can you hear me? Guardian?!"

Elkis breathed in with a sudden gasp.

"That's it Guardian! You're not done yet! Now, on your feet!"

Elkis blinked. Persephone floated above her. The Ghost's shell had split and expanded, the pieces orbiting a sphere of brilliant blue-white light.

Her hands shot to her neck. She had died; she _remembered_ it. "How...?"

"No time. On your feet, Guardian!"

Elkis looked to the side. Hive surrounded them. Slowly, the monsters turned to face her. Strength and power flooded Elkis, like she had just drained an entire tank of Ether. Despite the memory of claws tearing through her muscles, she rose smoothly to her feet.

The thrall attacked.

"Guardian! Hold out your hand!"

Elkis raised her arm as the energy within burst from her skin, traveling down her outstretched limb as arcs of crackling lightning. The energy reached her hand and forked, forming a blade-tipped shaft of brilliant white metal.

Elkis clenched her fist around the staff. Lightning thrummed through her veins.

The first wave pounced.

Elkis raised her other hands to the staff and swept it towards the Thrall in a wide slash. Lightning arced from its tip, rendering the Thrall to ash before they hit the ground. The weapon was almost alive in her hands, guiding her body as it spun, lashing out at a second group that tried to ambush her.

A squad of Acolytes raised their weapons. Elkis felt no fear as she darted towards them, weaving between their shots, then annihilating them with a single stroke of the staff.

The lightning within her raged through the Hive. She jumped from target to target, never striking in the same place twice, never standing still long enough to get hit. Everywhere she went, clouds of ash followed.

The head of a Knight loomed over ranks of Thrall. Trusting her newfound instincts, Elkis launched herself upwards. She sailed over the heads of the Thrall, electricity crackling in her wake. Elkis raised her staff above her head. The Knight futilely lifted its Cleaver to block.

Elkis fell like a bolt from the heavens.

She barely felt any resistance as her staff sliced straight through the Knight's sword and continued on through his armour. Blinding light flashed as she hit the ground. Tendrils of electricity lashed out around her, striking at the remaining Hive.

Elkis was left kneeling in a swirling cloud of ash. She felt the energy flowing through her begin to wane and slowly loosened her fingers around the staff. The weapon vanished as soon as it left her grasp.

"What was that?" she gasped, rising to her feet.

Persephone appeared beside her with a flash. "You are a Guardian; reborn in the Traveller's Light."

More shapes appeared at the top of the slope. Elkis clenched her fists. She could still feel the power, though it had retreated behind some kind of barrier.

"You can't fight all of them," Persephone told her. "Let's get out of here!"

Elkis reluctantly turned away, following the Ghost towards the ship. Persephone approached the nose and vanished in another flash of light.

"This was an old Guardian vessel," she whispered in Elkis' ear. "According to the log, it landed here just before the Great Disaster and went into standby mode. Its pilot never came back. Its been waiting all these years..."

Elkis turned her back on the ship, facing the approaching horde. "Come on..." she murmured.

"Right. Overwriting owner ID... Ending standby protocols..."

The ground shook and dust billowed around Elkis as the ship rose from the ground. The Hive surged forwards. Persephone brought the ship around in a tight arc.

"Hold still, I'm bringing you aboard."

There was a flash of light and Elkis found herself crammed into a cockpit not built to Eliksni proportions. She had a moment to process her surroundings before she was slammed back into the seat as they left the Moon behind.

* * *

"Tower Control to Jumpship three-four-three-india: your IFF reads as friendly, but I'm not seeing your registration in the database, please state your name and intentions. Be advised: air defences are armed and tracking you."

Before Elkis could respond, Persephone appeared beside her in the cockpit. "Hold your fire! I have a new Guardian aboard! Repeat: Hold your fire! New Guardian aboard! Broadcasting authentication codes now..."

"I hope those codes are still valid," Persephone added, privately.

Elkis tensed, expecting the silence to be broken by warning sirens any moment.

Eventually, the radio crackled into life again. "Control to three-four-three-india: your codes check out, and I've notified the Vanguard of your arrival. You are cleared for Tower approach; vector for landing on pad A and use callsign Hope One. Apologies for the inconvenience, and... welcome home, Guardian."

Elkis allowed herself to relax slightly.

Persephone swivelled to face her. "See? I said I wouldn't let them hurt you."

"That was the easy part," she shot back, "They haven't seen me yet."

"You worry too much. This should cheer you up."

The ship accelerated, bursting through the cloud banks that encircled the City.

Elkis gasped.

Spread out before them was the last safe city of Humankind, gleaming in the sunlight. Directly ahead lay the Tower; a great monolith of steel and concrete rising from the City's walls, topped with a 'T'-shaped structure. Elkis barely paid the buildings any notice; she had eyes only for the Traveller. The Old Machine floated serenely above it all, a perfect alabaster sphere.

Elkis raised a hand, pressing it against the wrap-around monitor. Her people had abandoned their homeworld, their honour - their very souls - in a desperate attempt to reclaim the Old Machine. Now, she was the closest an Eliksni had been to the sphere since Twilight Gap.

She tore her gaze away long enough to glance at Persephone. In a way, she supposed, she was even closer to the Traveller than that, but was she truly an Eliksnianymore? She knew her people's history, but all she recalled were dry facts; there was no personal connection.

Her gaze fell to her battered armour. Flashes of green were still visible beneath the ash and dust. Her memories told her that the House of Exile - whose colours she wore - hadn't been formed until after the battle of Twilight Gap. Had she fought in the battle? What had she done to get herself exiled?

Her memories had no answer.

"Sorry to interrupt," Persephone said softly, "We're on our final approach. I'll transmat us down to the plaza - the ship can land itself."

Elkis took a breath. "Let's do this."

There was a flash of light. She found herself outside, stood on a neatly paved floor of pale stone. She had a breath to take in the artfully trimmed lawns and trees, the banners fluttering in the breeze, and the Guardians and civilians milling about before her. Then, someone spotted her, and the screams began.

Civilians ran for cover. Guardians shouted, guns appearing in their hands.

"Fallen in the Tower!"

"Sound the alarm!"

"Battle stations!"

Several of the Guardians reached up, plucking flaming weapons from thin air.

Persephone reacted quicker than all of them. "Don't shoot!" she cried, appearing directly in front of Elkis. "We're on your side!"

The Guardians hesitated. Elkis slowly raised her arms, showing her empty hands. Confused murmurings came from the Guardians' ranks; none of them would attack a Ghost, but instincts born of years fighting her people compelled them to keep their weapons raised.

Belatedly, a siren began to wail. Red lights flashed at regular intervals along the walls.

"What's going on here?!"

There was a disturbance at the back of the Guardians' line. Three figures pushed their way through, lead by an Awoken man in heavy armour.

"Vanguard Commander Zavala, of the Titans," Persephone whispered.

Next came a human woman, dressed in robes.

"Ikora Rey, of the Warlocks."

And finally, an Exo wearing a hooded cloak.

"Cayde-6, of the Hunters."

The Exo froze mid-step, staring at her. Elkis met his glowing blue eyes.

Memory blazed through her.

 _A bipedal figure stood a few paces away, bracing a long rifle against the hull of the ship, glowing blue mechanical eyes shone from beneath his hooded cloak._

Elkis breathed in sharply.

" _ **You!"**_

* * *

 **The End**

 _Cover image is from the Grimoire card 'Captain'_

 _ **Author's Notes:**_

I am a latecomer to the Destiny party, only getting into the series with the release of Destiny 2 on PC. Destiny 2 is a flawed game, but in researching the story of the first game before playing the second, I fell in love with the world and stories that Bungie had created.

I have tried to be thorough with my research ( in hindsight, I may have overdone showing that with the amount of names and references I included here) but as I don't own a current-gen console, I haven't played the first game, so if there are any lore-aficionados reading this, please let me know if i've made any mistakes. I am aware that Arc Staff is a Destiny 2-exclusive Super, but the lore tab for the Arcstrider subclass indicates that they have existed since the Dark Age, so I believe I am justified in using it here.

For those of you not so familiar with the lore: The meeting between Elkis and Cayde-6 in the first half of this story is loosely based on an actual encounter that took place in the lore, between Cayde and and an unnamed Baroness of the House of Exile, related in the Grimoire card ' _Ghost Fragment: Fallen_ '

Regular readers of mine will know that I usually give out a recommendation for another fanfic to read in my notes, however as I don't frequent the Destiny archives, I don't have another story to give you. I thought about recommending one of a handful of Halo stories I've read over the years, but instead I'll send you to the video that inspired this story.

My recommendation this time, is a YouTube channel called _My name is Byf_ , specifically a video entitled _Legends of Destiny: The Fallen_. It was this video, narrating the tragic history of the Eliksni, which first got me thinking that the Eliksni used to revere the Traveller, and there are still some of them who remember the old ways, so what if one of them became a Guardian? Then I remembered the encounter between Cayde and the Fallen Baroness in the aforementioned Ghost Fragment, and thus this story was born.

This story was originally intended as a one-shot, proposing an interesting "what if?" scenario, but now that I've created the character of Elkis, I can't help imagining her in different situations, so depending on the response to this story, I may write more in the future.

Anyway, that's all for now, so thank you for reading, and please leave your thoughts in a review!

~Superbun


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